Empathy for Victims in FVIPs
Facilitated by Dr. Gloria Smith Cissé | Sponsored by GCFV

March 5, 2026

Virtual Training

9am - 4:30 pm

Cost: $60


Empathy for victims is one of the most misunderstood - and most misused - concepts in family violence intervention.  Many FVIPs require "empathy" from participants, yet research shows that self-reported empathy does not reliably predict safety, accountability, or behavior change.  In some cases, it can even mask coercion, minimization, or manipulation.

This 6-hour advanced training equips FVIP facilitators, supervisors, and court-connected providers with a science-based, trauma-informed, and behaviorally grounded framework for understanding and teaching empathy for victims in intimate partner and family violence cases.

Drawing on peer-reviewed IPV research, neuroscience, dyadic studies, and SCCT's Choosing Peace and Teranga frameworks, participants will learn how empathy functions as a violence-inhibition mechanism, how it differs for men and women who use violence, and how to teach, observe, and document empathy in ways that are meaningful for victim safety and court accountability.

Participants will practice using SCCT's perspective-taking activities and structured lethality-informed scenarios to identify when empathy is genuine, emerging, distorted, or absent - and how to intervene effectively.

This training is appropriate for:

* FVIP facilitators and supervisors

* Probation and court-affiliated providers

* Advocates working with persons who have used violence

* Clinical and community-based intervention staff

Learning Objectives

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

* Summarize current peer-reviewed research on empathy, IPV, and family violence, including what empathy predicts - and what it does not.

* Explain the implications of empathy research for FVIP group facilitation and court reporting.

* Identify behavioral indicators of genuine, emerging, distorted, and absent empathy in people who have used violence.

* Facilitate a SCCT perspective-taking activity that teaches class participants to recognize the emotional impact of their behavior on partners and children.

* Apply empathy-informed analysis to real-world scenarios to assess risk, accountability, and intervention needs.

Space is limited. Training costs $60 (nonrefundable and nontransferable). Payment must be received by  March 3, 2026. Failure for GCFV to receive payment in the correct amount owed by March 3, 2026 will result in your spot being given to someone on the waiting list.

Registration will close once capacity is reached.